Tanning hides



UNIT D STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

' WILLIAM LAWLEY, OF KENNEDY, ALABAMA.

TANNING HIDES.

$PEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 511,301, dated December19, 1893.

Application filed July 31,1893. Serial No. 481,977. (No specimens.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that 1, WILLIAM F. LAWLEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates,.residing at Kennedy, in the county of Lamar and State ofAlabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in TanningHides; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The special object of the invention is to dispense entirely with batingin the tanning of hides, the said hating being productive of damage tothe hide; secondly to preserve the fiber of the hide by the use of saltin the liming process so as to make the leather more strong and durable;thirdly to work the lime out of the hide instead of attempting to soakit out.

My treatment ofhides is as follows: I first soak, break, spread out withthe flesh side up, sprinkle with dry fresh-slaked lime to a depth of onesixteenth of an inch and over this about an equal thickness of unleachedwood-ashes.

I then wet the lime and ashes with Water, rub them well into the hideand then double or fold it with the flesh side in. Next, I soak thefolded or rolled up hide in a solution, formed of soda one part, saltten parts and Water thirty parts, for four or five hours; then draw outand air for ten minutes, then soak again for four or five hours andcontinue this for twenty-four to thirty-six hours. After the hair isremoved,theliineis worked out with a flesher and sleeker, and not soakedout in the usual way, the latter leaving considerable of lime in thehide to rot and impair the strength of the fiber. When the lime has beenWorked out, I make'an ooze of oakbark or sumac, with two and one-halfpounds of saltpeter, ten pounds of salt, five pounds of alum and onequart of acetic acid, to be added thereto. The saltpeter, salt and alumare dissolved in two gallons of water and the acid poured in, the wholebeing then putinto theooze. Thehides, being put in, are stirred well,drawn out and aired every day from three to five days; the fiber beingsaturated and well swollen at the end of that time. I now strengthen theooze with the barks or sumac and handle twice a day until thoroughlytanned.

By the above treatment, sheepskins may be tanned in three to five days,calf-skins in eight to ten days and heavy hides in sixty to ninety days.

What I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is-

The tanning process which consists in rubbing the flesh side of anordinary well broken hide with wet lime and ashes and folding it up withthe flesh sidein; secondly soaking the rolledhide in a solution of saltand soda for twenty-four hours, airing the hide at inter.- vals of fouror five hours; thirdly working out the lime with a flesher and sleekerinstead of soaking the hide in a hate the usual way; and fourthlysoaking and stirring the hide .in a

suitable ooze from three to five days; all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM F. LAWLEY.

Wi tuesses ROBT. MILES, HOLLAND M. BELL.

